History

Management Toolbox was founded in 1999 by Ross Darrah who was in search of a better way to do business.  After being asked in his previous role to make five people redundant, in the interests of efficiency, Ross was inspired to challenge the traditional approach to cost management.  In doing so, he discovered that there was indeed a better way to achieve the same cost reduction, without people having to lose their jobs – a situation where, ultimately, everyone loses.  The better way that Ross found was the Total Cost of Ownership approach to procurement and supplier management, and it was with this focus that he established Management Toolbox back in August 1999.

Ross remains the organisation’s Managing Director and major shareholder today and over the past 11 years Management Toolbox has built a reputation as the foremost Procurement and Supply chain consulting organisation in New Zealand, having helped over 130 clients achieve sustainable savings and improve their supplier relationships and management considerably.

In early 2009, when the Global Financial Crisis was having its biggest impact on New Zealand, Ross realised that for many businesses the playing field had changed, and Management Toolbox could help them to get ahead in a number of new ways.  New Zealand businesses were facing new problems and required a new range of services.  After many discussions about his situation, Ross teamed up with a new business partner in Steve Phillips; one of Management Toolbox’s first customers back when Steve was leading NZ Business Supplies Group (Blue Star) in 1999.

Steve brought with him a new perspective and complementary capability, and together they developed the new business model for Management Toolbox.  This new model offers client support across Strategic Planning, Implementation and Process Improvement as well as the traditional Procurement Strategy offer, supported by an invigorated team of fresh capability.  So what was once a specialist consulting organisation focused on maximising opportunities and savings in procurement and the supply chain, now offers its clients much more – a full service from strategy development through to implementation with specialist expertise around productivity improvement, procurement and supply chain management.

		Strategic Planning	Implementation	Procurement Strategy	Process Improvement

Management Toolbox is a company of organisational engineers; helping organisations with great aspirations become more efficient and effective to achieve their strategic goals.

Read about our Purpose, Vision and Values.